August 26, 2007 – Sunday
We had a thank you Amecet party here Friday. All of the worker and children (even the babies) came. We wanted to thank them for their ministry and for their care they gave to Moses. Angie and I made all kinds of goodies. We all had fun playing musical chairs and water balloons. I feel a big part of my ministry here is encouragement. I don’t do much of the direct ministry but I can support those who do.
Little, skin and bone, Tom from Amecet died. So sad...yet he is now healthy with his Heavenly Father. They also had to send home kids for the first time because of some abuse happening. They have gone through a hard time lately. Our party came at a good time and I hope it blessed them.
Our guard, Patrick, is now hired directly through us. His gun accidentally went off the other night and scared all of us. A lot! It was so loud. Patrick was in the guard house when it happened. It put a big hole in the wall and the shell wounded his foot. He was shaken up too. It was then that we decided we didn’t want a guard with a dangerous gun. We are so thankful no one was hurt. We know people are praying for us. So now we have a guard with a whistle, stick, and bow and arrow. The good thing out of the situation is that it showed me how much our friends here love us. Sam, our neighbor came running over to see if we were okay.
We haven’t had water for over two weeks! I am trying not to get frustrated but… I am thankful for our rain tank. Our construction is coming along and I feel much better about it all. Our paint is almost complete and looks so nice. We have a lot of room now.
Lydia came to me the other day and said, “I want to be a widow.” So we explained to her what a widow is. She hears about widows so much you know. Today she was playing and I asked what she was doing. She said she was being sad because Moses mother died. I told her that it is sad but God gave Moses a new mom and dad, Uncle Tim and Aunt Angie. She said yes now he has a mommy.
The girls LOVE to sing and are picking up all the songs at church. I will sing, “Who are you?” and Grace will sing back, “I am a winner (in the Lord).”
I don’t know if I wrote this or not but I did confirm that stubborn here means funny or someone who makes people laugh. So Grace is not stubborn like we know it to them but she is funny and that she is.
Did I tell you I am feeling so much better – praise God! I don’t feel the heaviness of stress or frustration. I feel under control. I don’t get so upset. I am not sure what the change. There is still stress and frustration but I feel like I know how to avoid getting so upset by it. I can stay clam. I have been talking to our team about it and they assured me that we all going through cultural stress and fatigue. I have started to take women vitamins. My hair had been coming out so much that I figured I was missing some kind of vitamin or hormone in my body so I decided to try vitamins. And of course I have been pouring out my heart to God and praying. He is my peace!
Your reaction to stress from being in a different culture is exactly what I went thru when I was away on missions in Fiji for a couple years. I lost too much weight and came back to the States way too thin! (I was down about 15 pounds from what should be normal for my height.) After I came home, I gained it all back...and then some. I wish I would have thought of vitamins...along with the weight, I lost hair too. Will pray for you!
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